For centuries, archery bows and arrows have been used for hunting and competition. More recently, substantial advancements in archery bow technology have resulted in greatly improved accuracy and range.
Today's archery bows fall within two primary categories: so-called traditional archery bows (i.e., long bows and recurves) and compound archery bows. Modern archery bows are made of a variety of materials, including wood, metal, and complex composite materials, such as fiberglass and polyethylene. Modern archery bows are also made in various shapes, contours, and configurations. A typical compound archery bow includes a handle riser section and a pair of limbs attached to opposite ends of the riser section. A wheel or pulley is typically mounted to the distal end of each limb. A bowstring and cable system interconnects the pulleys or wheels (and thus the distal ends of the limbs) to generate limb flexion as the bow is drawn. Upon release of the bowstring, energy stored in the limbs is transmitted to the arrow to launch the arrow toward the intended target.
With the advent and modernization of compound archery bows, an incredible explosion of archery accessories for compound archery bows has followed. Typically, archery bow accessories are mounted to the handle riser section of an archery bow. Such archery bow accessories include, without limitation, an arrow rest, a sight, a stabilizer, a cable guard, and an arrow quiver.
A common problem relating to archery bow accessories is that it is often difficult to store the archery bow in a case, for example, with all the accessories attached to the archery bow. For example, typical archery bow stabilizers extend well beyond the front edge of the handle riser portion of the archery bow. Quivers and archery sights can extend both forwardly and laterally relative to the handle riser section of an archery bow. Thus, it is often desirable, and sometimes required, to remove from archery bow these accessories prior to storing a bow within an archery bow storage case. The problem with removing archery bow accessories, however, is the difficulty in securing the accessory in the same, repeatable position relative to the handle riser section.
Furthermore, modern bows are precision instruments. The forces that influence arrow trajectory must all be fully balanced to allow for consistency in the force exerted on the arrow by the bowstring when released. Therefore, the location of all accessories and adjustments made to the accessories must be done in a precise repeatable manner so as to avoid detuning the entire bow.
A common obstacle in designing accessories for bows is the necessity to mount the archery bow accessory in a precise, repeatable position. Often, a dove-tail mount is used to secure archery accessories to an archery bow. Such dove-tail mounts do not lend themselves well to precise, repeatable positioning of the accessory. Therefore, there is a need in the archery bow industry for a method and apparatus designed to allow archery accessories to be mounted on an archery bow in a precise, repeatable manner.